It’s time to declutter your social media life

So, the other day, I did some digital decluttering. Not the file deleting, photo organizing type of decluttering – I cleaned out my social media channels.

I don’t have an incredibly large digital circle, but it was still becoming too much. I felt like I was constantly bombarded with information I couldn’t give a damn about and missed things I wanted to see.

Why is this a problem?

Because time and attention are some of the most valuable things we have and they are fast becoming very scarce and limited resources.

So, I wanna be smart and very, very intentional about whom I’m gifting them with. Especially in this crazy age of information overload we live in.

That’s why I’m doing a social media decluttering session now and again. And if you regularly feel stressed or overwhelmed about your online time, see too much crap you don’t enjoy, don’t find what you’re looking for– then you should regularly declutter your social media life as well.

To free up physical and mental space. To cut out the noise. To redirect your attention. To become more focused and intentional with how you spend your online time.

So, as many of us regularly declutter our bathroom cabinets or wardrobes, it’s high time to do the same with our virtual lives.

Tips to declutter your social media life

Mute/Block/Unfollow

Probably the most crucial step, even if it’s awkward/painful. Content you’re not enjoying anymore? Drop it. Too negative or even toxic people? Hit unfollow. This way, you can free up (the otherwise very limited) capacities for things and people you really enjoy, value, and would like to follow and support.

Go over your Facebook likes (charity likes for the random page of a friend of a friend, anyone?), elementary school friends you haven’t talked to in 15 years (I know your baby is cute, but I really don’t need to follow his everyday development), tweets (yes, one every 30 minutes is too much), insta pictures (when did we even become friends?), everything. Be really brutal and honest.

Don’t wanna be too drastic or hurt someone’s feelings? At least mute them (they won’t notice it).

Make lists

Even if you’re not a list fanatic as I am, they can be incredibly useful for organizing and filtering information. Especially with the current algorithms, a lot of potentially useful info can be lost. Setting up Twitter lists for news/influencers/or even your most dedicated followers makes it easier to find and share relevant information, as you don’t have to scroll through a sea of irrelevant tweets. Here’s a guide on how to set up and use Twitter lists (but keep them small and well-curated).

Clean up your social media profiles

Refresh your profile pictures, make the most of your bio (the social media equivalent of a first impression), delete the boards you’re not using on Pinterest, update your LinkedIn profile – refresh, clear, clean, and tidy up.

Automate

I’m a big fan of saving time and energy by automation, whenever I can. Take advantage of the dozen social media automation apps out there: I use Buffer for scheduling tweets, Mosaico for planning my Insta feed and storing hashtags, IFTTT for sharing Insta pics on Twitter, and I’m also flirting with the idea of trying BoardBooster or Tailwind for Pinterest, because that’s one thing I really do not have time for. I also set up category groups with all relevant hashtags in my Notes as well as @-s and hashtags for Twitter RT accounts, so I do not have to manually type them out every single time. Copy-Paste, as simple as that.

Unsubscribe

Ok, venturing into email territory here, but I just cannot leave this one out. Out of all the newsletters and brand emails I get, I think 10% has some value for me. The rest of them are digital clutter that just overflow my inbox and cause anxiety. To be honest, half of them I don’t even remember subscribing to. Try unroll.me to see all the emails cluttering up your feed and select which one to keep. So, take a couple of hours and free up your inbox. Totally worth it.

Become a connector, instead of a consumer – Talk/Engage/Share

Once you did all the digital decluttering, there’s only one thing left.

 Connect. 

For a long time, I’ve been a simple consumer of social media. I had my personal Insta and FB pages, read blogs, but that’s about it. Ever since I started blogging, I realized this is not enough. Being a consumer is a passive state. You’re overloaded with information and you just swim in it. And that can be very overwhelming. Yes, social media can have very negative and destructive effects on our self-perception, confidence, or life expectations. But try to grab the positive ones: it’s never been easier to connect with like-minded people from all over the world. And if you’re a blogger or entrepreneur, connecting is even more important.

Do not just stand passively and wait for people to consume your content. Tweet, DM, share, shout out, retweet, mention, comment, engage, and reach out. Shut out the noise and focus on building meaningful connections.

Considering how much time we usually spend on social media, this should be an area of high priority for decluttering.

Take an afternoon and take back control of your social channels.

Also, if you have any questions about decluttering or organizing, or a special area you’d like to read about, let me know.

xx, V

SaveSave